Just the other day someone asked me, is this a blog or is this a website with a blog attached. This is a great question that doesn't have a clear and direct answer.
These days blog designs are becoming more and more sophisticated. As a result they look more and more like websites, at least on the front page.
If you look at the image below you will see home page designs on the left and blog page designs on the right.
I don't believe that there is much of a difference between a blog and a website these days. The only real difference is about intention.
A plumber most likely isn't going to want focus on their latest blog post as much as they do on their services provided and contact information.
In the image below a random plumbers website is on the left and a blog (My Side of Fifty) is on the right.
The small business website on the left is focused on the services offered and their contact information. They have a picture of their vehicle which helps prove that they are legitimate and their primary goal is to get that phone call.
The blog on the left has a bit of branding, social share buttons and the latest blog post. It is clear that this is a content driven website.
Where the confusion comes in is with a site like I Teach Blogging, here. This is a primarily a content driven blog but the goal of the content is to sell services. Therefore the front page of this site has more of a website feel to it. This is becoming more and more common as bloggers offer services or products.
The fact is you can make any page on your WordPress site your front page. It is actually quite simple to do. This is one of the many reasons that WordPress is such a great platform.
How to set a custom WordPress home page
To prepare for having a unique home page and a unique blog page, you will need to create each page. Now you can make any page on your website your home page but generally speaking you will have one primary home page.
Create Two New WordPress Pages
Step 1: Log into your WordPress Dashboard
Step 2: Click on Pages
Step 3: Click on Add New
Step 4: Enter Page Title: Home
Step 5: Click on Publish
Repeat this process to create a page called Blog
Set WordPress Front Page
Step 1: Log into your WordPress Dashboard
Step 2: Click on Settings
Step 3: Click on Reading
Step 4: Select A static page
Step 5: Click on Front page drop down and select your page.
Step 6: Click on Posts page drop down and select your blog page.
Step 7: Click Save Changes
Conclusion
The line between blog and website is blurring bit by bit. This is great news for website owners and bloggers. You can easily get all of your content to work seamlessly under one domain name. Now that you know how easy it is to reset your home page, spend time thinking about all of the possibilities. If you have a special promotion coming up you can create a landing page and set it as your temporary home page.